As I said above, they weren’t that far apart. With the Star Lite better sounding and cheaper that doesn’t look good for the Nova’s value proposition. Although what @Blackbird quoted could of course just be marketing speak. Probably best to just go and have a listen.
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I’m sure the majority would agree with that and have no desire to see Naim produce a CD player again. Any decision they make must of course be based on commercial realities. I’m in a minority sticking with CD, but I like it.
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Naim USB inputs only play from directly attached storage The only way you’ll get what you want is with a USB to SPDIF converter.
The DAC V1 being the exception - a major reason why I bought one. I can use a phone, I-pad or laptop as a streaming ‘transport’ and use the V1’s remote to control the transport - same as my Arcam D33 does. It all works very well.
Edit: if one needs a USB to SPIDF converter, I can recommend the Topping D10s. I use one in the office to feed my AVA amp via SPIDF. It takes power from the USB and can also be used as a standalone DAC if one wishes to.
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Some here use the NPS or the Limitree bridge. They both enhance the streaming sound quality of the Nds.
The Ndac is much better than the dac inside your Nova. And you have the redundancy using it with your 282 and 250.
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It certainly is a superb little box, but it’s a discontinued model.
Rather more than that - it is also a music store, and even has a built in renderer so it can output music direct to a DAC without streaming over a network.
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I can never understand why a company would use the word Lite in their products.
VW Golf Lite
Samsung MFTV Lite
Apple iPhone 18 Lite
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 Lite
Fender Stratocaster Lite
You get the idea.
.sjb
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The Core (which I own) isn’t a cd player it’s predecessor was and I and I’m sure others do, like our cds on shelves. Just thought a up market hi fi manufacturer that only has one source is a bit short sighted.
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Think there has been a degree of support for a CD transport.
If I move , the Atom or Starlight can be an option in an alternate system, one that has a transport .
@ChrisSU many thanks. I feel an iFI DAC may have to an option, but there are seemingly other manufacturers that will include the requisite input.
Quad may be an alternative option, with the option of a CD transport
The USB input here is for storage - i..e a USB stick or drive.
Yeah, having just ripped all mine on the Core that’s exactly what I’ve decided to do. Getting rid of them felt too much like having a lifetime of documents just stored in the cloud. (I can’t even bring myself to get rid of my CD player.)
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Yes, I am thinking about other uses for the USB port.
Anyway this speculation, I am very happy with my current Naim set up - but a reluctant move ( I am so hoping my buyer will pull out) will force a radical change .
At this point I am not looking for a change in set up, but the way I see it it should be possible for those that miss the option of playing a CD to connect a standalone CD player with the Star Lite by using for example toslink or RCA input. That way the CD player functions as a transport and uses the DAC of the Star.
At the moment I use that option with a Denon CD player into my ND5 XS 2. Works very well…. Downside is of course that it means another box in the set up. But given the claim by Naim that the sound quality of the Star is also improved it may be an option for those interested.
For ripping I use my laptop and store the files on a SSD.
Maybe they shine britely amongst the competition?!
I think it should be referred to as the Starlite rather than Star Lite. I don’t know why but it seems to soften its name and suggest starlight rather than a star with something missing.
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I saw a Uniti Star Lite on the web-site of a Dutch dealer and the price is exactly the same as the original Star (3999 Euro’s). That seems a bit odd.
It looks as though the price is £3,199 in the UK and €3,999 in Europe.